Of course, as everyone knows, people don’t come back from the dead (vampires and zombies notwithstanding). It doesn’t happen. Why is it so important to the teachings of Christ that his brutally murdered corpse did just that? Not for the first time, I don’t get it. [Read the full article here]

Bishop Wright writes in response…

Just as Christian faith is far more than a moral philosophy or spiritual pathway (though it includes both as it were en passant), so it is more than a “how to get saved” teaching backed up by a dodgy “miracle”. Christian faith declares that, in and through Jesus, the creator of the world launched his plan to rescue the world from the decaying and corrupting force of evil itself. This was (if it was anything at all) an event which brought about a new state of affairs, albeit often in a hidden and paradoxical way (as Jesus kept on saying): the “kingdom of God”, that is, the sovereign, rescuing rule of the creator, breaking in to creation. If this stuff didn’t happen then Christianity is based on a mistake. You can’t rescue it by turning it into a philosophy. [Read Bishop Wright's response here]

The summary of what I did and say goes as follows…

Activity

Taking Peter as an example (Peter is one of the leaders on the course but it could be anyone). Give a few words – in English – that describe who Peter is.

Now let’s translate these into Dutch (there are a number of people on this course from the Netherlands so it seemed to make sense, but the same principle could be applied to any language). What happens?

Some words have a direct, literal translation, but other words are more complex and there is no direct translation. Instead you have to use different words, phrases and examples to express what exists as one word in English.

Application

When you go away from the course and talk to your friends about Peter you can do this in any language. Peter stays the same regardless of the language used. There may well be some words in English that are better at describing Peter than there are in Dutch, but the reverse may also be possible. The good thing is that an accurate representation of Peter is possible in both languages, he remains the same person.

Now, if you’ve told your friends about Peter they may want to get to know him better, so, instead of just using single words to describe him you may tell a story about him that illustrates who he is. In English and in Dutch you will use different words to tell the same story, but the person will remain the same and the characteristics displayed will be the same.

With all this talk of Peter it’s no wonder your friends are really enthused about him, so they want to meet him. You can now bring Peter to your friends and show him to them. They can meet the real Peter.

Now read John 1:1-18

John 1

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

¹ In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
² He existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist, ⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

¹⁵ John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”

¹⁶ From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

From Bible Gateway.com

This is exactly what God did through Jesus Christ. He revealed himself to us through Jesus.

Andrew Walls in his book The Missionary Movement in Christian History says,

Incarnation is translation. When God in Christ became man, Divinity was translated into humaity, as though humanity were a receptor language.

Walls, A., 1996, The Missionary Movement in Christian History, Orbis Books: New York, p27

In what ways does Jesus translate God into human?

Hebrews 1:1-4 says,

Hebrews 1

Jesus Christ Is God’s Son

¹ Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. ² And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. ³ The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. ⁴ This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

From Bible Gateway.com

Christ’s incarnation shows us what God is like. Not by giving us a good description in words that we need to imagine for ourselves, but by God in human form and ‘making his home among us’. Jesus stepped into human history, in a specific location and at a specific time and existed under the specific conditions of the culture of that time and place.

Do you think Jesus would have looked different and talked differently if he’d lived somewhere in Europe or the Far East instead of being born in Bethlehem? Do you think his core characteristics would have been the same as they were with him growing up in Galilee? I think that the core of who Jesus is would have been the same where ever he was born, what would have changed is the language he used, the clothes that he wore and the cultural events that he contributed to.

This all means that the message of the Bible becomes about Jesus and not about the words used to describe him.

My personal reflection

Reading through the first few chapters of the book of Acts I’ve had to reflect on what is meant by the apostles when they talk about preaching Christ. Suddenly preaching Christ isn’t about the vocabulary used, it’s about using the best words to descibe God’s son most accurately.

‘Our understanding is that more people are attending now than before, even if that is only a couple of times a year rather than every week.  This might mean going to church at one of the high points in their family’s year, such as Christmas or Easter, or attending Sunday services or midweek events.

I’ll be honest, I’m not buying it. Honestly, if going to church was a high point for a family they would be back week after week, not just for a religious festival on a long weekend.

They also draw the conclusion that,

‘This is of course immensely encouraging, because it shows that people are associating church and a belief in God with hope and joy, and a positive way to spend their time.’

How do you get that out of the figures? I went to church as a young boy because I had to, not because I was hopeful or especially joyful about the event. Even today I can go into a church service full of hope and joy only to find it dashed on the rocks of disappointment as the organ cranks up for the first hymn at the same time as sucking any level of praise out of my soul with some mournful tune.

I wasn’t going to say anything about this until I read Cranmer’s recent blog post about Rev’d Vincent Nichols attack on Easter Sunday football.

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols has decided to attack the heads of the Premier League and Setanta Sports for showing ‘disdain’ for the religious traditions of the United Kingdom, for disregarding the importance of Easter Sunday. And he criticises them for worshipping Mammon (profane ‘commercial considerations’) instead of honouring the sacred.

You see churches aren’t competing against each other for bums on seats. They are fighting a spiritual battle for hearts and minds in a world where more joy, emotion and feeling are shown in 90 minutes of a football game than pour out of most pulpits on any given Sunday.

This weekend we remember the passion, love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God’s very own son put to death for people as ordinary as you and me. And yet, I somehow suspect that 22 men will show more passion and energy in the quest to get three points than most pastors, vicars and ministers will show over this single event that changed the world.

If you’re preaching this weekend, how about treating the minutes you have been given to speak as the chance to reflect some of that passion that was shown for you on the first Easter Sunday? How about preaching as though promotion or relegation from glory depended on it?

Or, if you’re going to warm the pew of your local church building, how about taking the attitude of a football fan with you? That you’re involved in what takes place and not just an onlooker, that your cheers, songs, chants and cries are heard by God and he responds? As though the result of your time spent in church, with that crowd of people, actually makes a difference to your soul?

Happy Easter everyone.

If you don’t know the story behind Easter and why Christian’s celebrate this time of year, you can read it online here

To share in some of the stories, hear of the successes of the past and consider the challenges of the future is worth the time away from my desk.

We spent some time at the start in small groups discussing the story in John 13:1-17, where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. We drifted a little from the structure of the questions we had been given, which was good, because it allowed a member of the group to share the following (and I’m paraphrasing).

A strong relationship with God allows us to be humble. In the passage we see Jesus, God in human form, putting on a towel and bending down to wash the feet of men, including the guy who was about to give him up to be crucified.

If Jesus was looking for human authority or power he would have his feet washed by others, not bend to do it himself. However, his status is secure with God. He is the Son of God, that cannot be taken from him. Because of this security Jesus could be humble and do what is right rather than what is expected.

For us it’s the same. If our security is in God, our identity safe with Him, then it frees up our options to choose what is right rather than what is popular.

Last night I was listening to a similar thing in a podcast from the Viallage Church. Lessons learned along the journey, it’s worth a listen if you have the time.

We shifted a very full car this morning, unloaded at the flat and than charged out to a family friend’s 60th birthday. I’ve seemingly known David for most of my adult life and he’s spent most Easter and Christmas holidays with my parents and me. Today, with about 100 other freiends, we celebrated his birthday. There was a meal, singing, poetry (a particular poem about some people being old at 40 while others are still young at 73, is something I want to remember and track down at some point) and some brilliant music; and then David shared what it meant to have friends and family as well as knowing a real relationship with God.

Strange, as we left I couldn’t help think that this was exactly the kind of birthday party Jesus would have loved. There were people from work, artists and poets, religious leaders (a couple of CofE vicars), friends and family all sat around meal tables talking and sharing life with each other. New friendships were made and old ones reaquainted, sad and happy stories were told and all the glory, honour and praise was given to God.

The Temptation of Jesus

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

Matthew 4